Almost every school in South Africa stages an annual concert, and the costume side of those productions is usually run by the drama teacher and a small army of parents. Once in a while a school will bring in a professional face painter for the more complicated character work, and that is where I come in.
A production of Alice in Wonderland
The most memorable school concert I have worked at was an Alice in Wonderland production at a high school in Pretoria East. The students had already handled their own stage make-up — the basics, the contouring, the eye work that drama teachers train them to do themselves. My job was the costume characters: the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar, an Owl, and a small group of flower girls who needed petal work around the eyes.
The Caterpillar took forty-five minutes
The Caterpillar was the design that stretched me the most. At a birthday party I am working in four-to-six-minute blocks — quick, bold, recognisable. The Caterpillar was the opposite: forty-five minutes of fine work, building up the structure of the design before the colour went on. The drama teacher had a precise picture in her head and I wanted to get it right.
The Mad Hatter was a separate kind of fun. The student had thick, bushy hair which had already been spray-painted orange. With the eye work and the cheekbone detail in place, he looked completely transformed.
Why this is different work to a party
A school concert is a stage production. The designs have to read from the back of the hall, but they also need to hold up under the lights and through the moves the children make on stage. Sweat, hugs from parents at the interval, full hour-and-a-half wear time — the paint and the design have to be planned for all of it.
Walking through the dressing room after I had finished and seeing the children in full costume for the first time is the part I remember. They are nervous, excited, suddenly transformed. Their parents go quiet when they come out.
Planning a school production?
If you are putting on an annual concert, a drama production, or a school fun day in Pretoria, Centurion, or Johannesburg North, and you would like a professional painter on hand for the more complicated character work, get in touch. The earlier in the term we can talk, the better the result.
From the event
